Thanks so much to the Desirabelles for inviting me to blog with you this week. And hello to all my old pals from the Diamonds blog. I am excited to announce the release of my sixth book for Silhouette Desire.

Friday Night Mistress began life around Christmas 2007 when for some inexplicable reason, I began to hear Strauss waltzes in my head from morning to night. I have two very old CDs of Strauss’s Famous Viennese waltzes, but suddenly, I couldn’t get the music out of my head so I figured I was meant to write a ball story. My first idea didn’t fly but we eventually wrangled something from the ashes, which turned into two books about Kiwi brothers, Nick and Adam Thorne. I did stage a ball in Friday Night Mistress but as it turned out, the real ball bonanza was relegated to the second story, Adam’s book, which is set in England and Vienna.

Friday Night Mistress takes place mostly in Wellington, New Zealand, a pretty city at the bottom of the North Island.

Nick and his love interest, Jordan, also take a trip on a chartered boat to the Marlborough Sounds, one of the loveliest parts of the country in my opinion.

Nick Thorne is a financier, a serious, rather conservative man. I fell in love with the Venezuelan supermodel, Enrique Palacios, when I saw him on the Armani Code ad. A little more delving delivered a wonderful You Tube clip of him in many poses.

This is one of my favourites (left) – and there actually was a steamy stairwell scene in the book…Gorgeous, intense, purposeful, he clearly needs a shake-up. Who better than the flashy, flighty heiress, Jordan Lake, who just happens to be the daughter of Nick’s father’s most hated enemy?

That’s Mischa Barton of OC fame (right). Aside from the problems that arise between their families, Jordan has exactly the right amount of flair, notoriety and vulnerability to rock Nick’s ordered and organised world. Nick prides himself on his sense of honour and duty. So much more responsible than his playboy brother, Adam, whom we meet in Friday Night Mistress, and who has Nick shaking his head over the relentless pursuit of his prim and proper PA…

You’ll be happy to know that since I finished writing Adam’s story – which was THE BEST to research – the Strauss music has subsided to an occasional treat.

Now a little story. My neighbor has told me she got goose bumps when she heard Strauss blaring from my house. Apparently the couple who built this house fifty years ago were keen ballroom dancers. We have a lovely big, long lounge with a huge curved window. They used to have dancing afternoons where their friends would come around and they would move the furniture back and waltz around the room. I like that! I always love hearing about different eras in a house’s life. One of our houses was built in 1848 and had a most interesting history – including a suicide – but even Google can’t help me with this place.

I was going to kick off the comments with a question pertaining to family feuds but let’s have some fun.

::Shines torch under your chin:: Do you have a snippet of fascinating history from a house you’ve lived in? It can be as creepy, crazy or cuckoo as you like. And if you raise the hairs on the back of my neck or tickle my funny bone, or even just dazzle me with the truth, I have two copies of Friday Night Mistress to give away. Good luck!